NASCC Lac La Biche Winter Festival of Speed 2017

Kevin Kolasa: The race weekend went well! It was cold on Saturday morning, but by the afternoon it had warmed up. Visibility was decent, but the cold kept exhaust vapor suspended enough to make passing difficult. Sunday was more brutal with the weather, as it didn’t really warm up at all. The final race was reduced in duration and extra time was given to the corner workers to keep warm
between races. The charity race and ride alongs went very well, as some of the ride alongs have peaked the interest to join ice racing for a few of the attendees!

Velocity: Any major incident re red flags or action?
Kevin Kolasa: There were no major incidents involving the race duration. There were one or two blown engines, and a few hang ups in the snowbanks.

Velocity: How many volunteers?
Kevin Kolasa: I am not completely sure, as it would be best to ask someone else. We did have a full compliment of volunteers and all the stations were manned. I would guess 20?

Velocity: How was your day of racing?
Kevin Kolasa: My racing was interesting. I tried running the rally snow-and-ice Black Rockets but they just couldn’t keep up with the bolted tires. I ended up borrowing a front set from a Chuck Roberts and Mike Thorn, and it really improved my lap time. I had to modify some car settings to really take advantage of them, though. In the third and final race, my transmission popped out of third after the start while I was in the lead (provide link to video), which caused me to spin and get hit head on by Peter Siefert, who was blinded by my exhaust and snow dust. Fortunately his driving skill helped minimize damage as he was able to recover and avoid hitting me a second time. I spun out of control and went airborne off the second bank- but I didn’t roll. Because I was launched right off the race track, I don’t think the yellow flag was out for more than a few seconds, and my car seemed to run alright after. I called off racing after that, though, because I wanted to do more of an inspection. When I got home I found the car was fine and pretty much all the damage was cosmetic and I should be back for the final weekend.

Photos Courtesy of NASCC & Kevin Kolasa

Northern Alberta Sports Car Club (NASCC) Statement:
Good news to share! We will have an Ice Race track at Roy’s Lake for this weekends Ice Racing and Ice Racing Celebration. Colin and I inspected the roads, track, and banks and even plowed some banks to make sure they will move and won’t be too hard. All looks good, the track will be shorter, more corners, and the long fast front straight is no more. There is enough new snow to make it
safe for everyone.

Ice racing marshals are the Diehards of Motorsport marshalling!

Photo by VelocityMotorsportsNews.com Northern Alberta Sports Car Club (NASCC) Ice Racing at the 2015 Western Canadian Championship at the La Biche Winter Festival of Speed

The best way to watch a race is to be in the car. The second best way to watch is to be a trackside marshal. If you are interested in racing but not sure about driving yourself, being a marshal might be for you. Ice Racing Marshals are there for emergencies and to communicate with racers with flags and to communicate regarding the race with others via radio. What to expect as an Ice racing marshal: The first thing you need to expect is to dress warmly. Temperatures in Canada and Alberta while marshalling can be anywhere from -5 to –40 Celsius depending on where you are; so dress warmly in lots of layers . You can always shed a layer of clothing if it warms up. Try wearing any other colour except white so you don’t blend into the snow bank. If you are new to Marshalling you are on track training with experienced personnel. An average race course is 6 turns and approximately 2 kms long so 20 trackside marshals can cover a racecourse. Track set-up starts with checking ice thickness for safety first then followed by ploughing out the course.

You must be 18 years of age to be trackside but if being trackside is not for you there is many other volunteer jobs required to run a race. Non-trackside race positions: timing, pre-grid Pit in & Pit out, Tech, track set-up & clean-up.